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This year Possets will be releasing fragrance blends which feature the ingredient(s) highlighted in blogposts like this one on galangal. Those blends can be found here.

Back to the Roots Pt. 1: Galangal

Awhile ago I wrote a about an essential oil that comes from an organic matter that is not a plant. This week I’ve decided to literally get back to the root of plant-based oils. This post marks the first in a series of spotlights on essential oils that are extracted from the roots of plants.

Act 1—galangal.

I have a friend who is getting her masters in art. Sometimes she likes to describe pieces by saying that they “look good/don’t look good to most people’s eyeballs,” implying that the subjectivity of perception interferes with the ability to actually determine anything as good, bad, or something in between. Discussing anything involving a person’s individual perception is like that, including perfumes and their ingredients. Citruses are generally citrusy, woods are generally woodsy, but beyond those obvious descriptors it’s so up to the individual to connect the scent with their own library of memories and associations, to find in it something meaningful and tangible to them.

For instance, when I smell galangal root, for some odd reason it reminds me of the scent of my grandpa, which I always noted when I would hug him. He was big and burly and chewed gum whenever he wasn’t eating. He’d buy packs of Extra gum by the box from Bigg’s, sometimes in Bubblemint but usually in Peppermint. He kept the packs of gum in his breast pocket, where he also kept the two one-dollar bills he was planning to give me and my brother at our departure. The minty smell was mixed with some ambiguous scent I can only picture as strong-old-man smell, probably a mixture of male-marketed bath products and the stubborn scent of old cigar smoke.

I have seen some people describe galangal root as being candy like and extra sweet, so I suppose it makes sense, then, that it reminds me essentially of a gum brand. It’s a spicy sort of sweet, so maybe the spicy notes are what correlate with the “masculine” part of my nostalgic scent.

Galangal root is in the same family as ginger and cardamon, known as Zingiberaceae, and it blends well with these oils and other deep, spicy scents like cinnamon. Like its sibling plants, galangal root is often used in cooking, particularly in Asia cuisines like Thai and Indonesian. It’s great in curries and spicy soups, and, like ginger, is good for digestion—just one of its many health benefits touted by some herbalists.

If you’re planning to cook with galangal, you’ll find that it looks almost identical to ginger root, but with a slightly paler skin. Maybe you’ll grab one instead of the other by mistake. The good news is that they usually work well as stand-ins for one another—though they’re certainly not identical in taste. Galangal is rather citrusy in comparison to ginger, the latter of which has more heat and pungency to its spice.

Fortunately there’s no real chance of mixing up galangal and ginger when you’re using their essential oils in neatly labeled bottles. As with ginger, galangal root is uplifting and pairs well with other bright scents too, like grapefruit. It’s an affordable essential oil that does well on its own whether on the skin or in a diffuser, but also blends nicely into many different perfume oils. I recommend trying it from all angles—in the kitchen, as a solo oil, or in a blend. Grab some galangal root from the store or order a little galangal essential oil and see where it takes you. Keep it around for a side-by-side comparison with the next root of this blog series. Possets has created two blends featuring Galangal Root. Kha Perfume Oil and Khulanjan Perfume Oil feature galangal root essential oil and can be found here: Kha and Khulanjan. Enjoy!

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I just moved into a new apartment that’s a short walk from what was once one of the biggest urban reforestation projects in the country. The 1,500 acres of nature are a fortunate coincident for someone like me, who thrives and heals and finds inspiration in the woods. In case of emergency, though, it’s good to have some items that can call to mind the sort of spiritual inhale that nature can provide. One such tool for me is a whiff of oakmoss absolute.

There are some essential oils and absolutes that really force themselves onto the sniffer’s nose as a 100%, no-doubt-about-it, straight-from-earth product. Oakmoss absolute is definitely one of them. It’s dark and syrupy, like something that would seep from the bark of a 200-year-old tree. The scent is a powerful base note—an essential part of the chypre branch of perfumes. Oakmoss smells just like the dirty, earnest woods, like tree bark or decomposing leaves and branches.

Oakmoss has been relevant in the perfume world for decades, serving as a key ingredient in scents like the original Chanel No. 5. The ingredient has undergone some restrictions over the years due to allergic reactions, calling for classic scents to be reformulated, but it still holds its prominent position in the world of smells. You’ll find it in perfumes like Miss Dior or in Lush bath bombs and, of course, in Possets perfumes.

And now I must direct your attention away from the tiny vial containing the thick, molasses-colored substance and bring you into the woods, where you will see oakmoss as it is before it’s turned into absolute using solvent extraction. Its minty-green color adorns many—you guessed it—oak trees all across the Northern Hemisphere (but it is found on other trees, too). It grows in shapes resembling deer antlers clustered together to make what looks like a little oakmoss bush.

You might not think that something so dainty and light would hold the depths of silvan scent that it does. But what is perhaps even more surprising is the fact that oakmoss isn’t even moss. It’s a lichen.

Now I know this blog is supposed to be about scent, but oakmoss is a staple part of so many perfumes that it deserves a little time in the spotlight being admired for what it is. And what it is is pretty strange and fascinating, if you ask me. Since this is not a science blog and I am no expert, I’ll keep the factual proclamations to a minimum. But to give you some idea of how cool lichens are, here’s an introduction in list-form:

Lichens are not plants. They miss our on this categorization because lichen don’t absorb water and nutrients through roots (though they do use photosynthesis). You’re probably aware that fungi aren’t plants, and they aren’t quite animals either. Lichen are like that, and not coincidentally, because…

Lichen are actually a unique composite organism created from combing separate organisms, one or more fungi, and/or a cyanobacteria, and/or an alga. The symbiotic relationship between these two organisms living together creates a lichen, which then has its own unique properties. Both fungi and algae have their own kingdom separate from plants and animals.

The surface on which a lichen grows is just a substrate—in other words, oak trees and other trees are not being harmed by the oakmoss that makes them its home.

Lichen is a tough little organism with a mind of its own. It can grow on just about any surface in just about any climate, from a gravestone in the desert to a rock in the arctic tundra. They’re actually known to grow inside the grains of solid rocks. There are over 20,000 species of lichen, and when a fungi, a cyanobacteria, and an alga can interact with another microorganism in their environment, there’s a possibility of a new and more complex lichen forming.

All this is to say that oakmoss is really something, isn’t it? As far as I know, it’s one of the few all natural absolutes that doesn’t come from a plant. Instead it takes a complex organism built from other non-plants to create the strongest, woodsiest smell. Next time you’re out for a walk in the woods, see if you can spot some lichen—maybe even some oakmoss—and give it a salute for its contribution to perfumes.

By Katrina Eresman

Two Possets fragrances which feature Oakmoss are Landscape in Suffolk and Heka. Both are beautiful and available in sample size!

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What does holiness smell like? If you turn to Catholic tradition for your answer, you’ll find that it smells floral. At least, that’s one of the biggest notes often used to describe the odor of sanctity, an alleged smell given off by the body of a Saint who has recently passed. The flowery smell drifts up from the body in one final indication that this person was in close connection with the divine during their life.

Lots of people translate the “odor of sanctity” in this way—as the literal scent that emanates from a saintly corpse. Others take the phrase to be more abstract. In such an interpretation, the odor of sanctity refers to the holy aura of a Saint, their pure state of being and their freedom from mortal sin at death. To die in such conditions is to die in the odor of sanctity.

When the odor of sanctity is described as an actual smell, it’s usually said to contain hints of flowers like roses and lilies, or spices like myrrh and cinnamon. The best of these notes are combined in the Possets blend St. Fabian Perfume Oil, which Fabienne created to honor her patron saint.

She first released this perfume in 2008, and described its origins in a blog post on St. Fabian’s Day in 2011. Here she gives a brief history of St. Fabian himself, and what made him a remarkable holy figure. The legend says that St. Fabian was elected as Pope when a dove landed on his head. The arrival of the bird was interpreted as a sign from the Holy Ghost that Fabian, once a humble farmer, was meant to be the next Pope. You’ll find that the St. Fabian Perfume Oil features a dove on its label as a reference to this piece of the story.

Fabienne dedicates most of her post to a more complete story of what made St. Fabian a leader worth honoring. For instance, during his time as Pope, he was able to retrieve the bones of two late saintly figures who had died in exile so that they could receive proper burials in Rome. When St. Fabian passed, if the lore of the odor of sanctity is true, he surely must have been surrounded by a cloud of rosy, resinous scent.

In keeping with Fabienne’s tradition, Possets will only sell the St. Fabian Perfume Oil blend on St. Fabian’s Day, January 20th, from 12:00 midnight to 11:59 p.m. here. Its main note is a fresh rose accord that immediately transports you to a lovely spring garden. A touch of amber and incense finishes this simple, feminine, beautiful perfume.

If you’re living in a place with a cold winter (like the presently snow-covered Cincinnati) this rosy perfume might be a great tool for wishing away the winter blues. And even if you’re not, the scent of holiness as interpreted by Fabienne is still a beautiful Possets oil to add to your collection. I’m addicted to its light, natural beauty, and would have to feel in awe of anyone who smelled this way during their transition into the afterlife.

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In 1857, French poet Charles Baudelaire published a collection of poems titled Les Fleurs du mal, or The Flowers of Evil. The poems are filled with sultry themes like eroticism, and proved too risqué for the times. In fact, not only were six of the poems banned for almost a century, Baudelaire was tried alongside his publisher for releasing poems that outraged public decency.

Lucky for us, Les Fleurs du mal in today’s context is a celebrated example of modern poetry. Its poems explicitly explore passion in a way that many current audience members embrace, viewing it through tools such as memory and scent.

Having been a student of both literature and the French language, I crossed paths with Baudelaire several times in college. But his works never quite hooked me like the works of some other French writers. I felt like the timing wasn’t right, as is often the case.

I’m not sure if I’m in love with his writing yet, but I have rekindled an interest in his poems. This started when I read a reference to him in the book “Essence and Alchemy” by Mandy Aftel. She writes about him several times, describing him as a poet who was willing to “write about erotic scent in an entirely frank way.” I turned back to Les Fleurs du mal to find poems referencing perfume in passionate contexts. For instance, in the piece “Lethe,” which was one of the six banned poems, Baudelaire writes about seeking refuge in the presence of an old lover, saying:

If I would swallow down my softened sobs

It must be in your bed’s profound abyss—

And earlier, he references the solace of his lover’s natural scent:

I want to hide the throbbing of my head

In your perfume, under those petticoats,

And breathe the musky scent of our old love,

The fading fragrance of the dying rose.

Much of the perfume that Baudelaire speaks of in Les Fleurs du mal is the natural scent unique to each human. To him, these perfumes evoke memories, passions, and comfort—as many scents do with me and probably you as well.

The love for a person’s natural perfume, be it your own or another’s, is a theme that has been embraced many times by the honest poet. And if you ask me, Baudelaire wasn’t the first. When Aftel praises Baudelaire for his daring mention of body scent in an sensual context, I feel that she fails to acknowledge another poet who was exploring this idea before Les Fleurs du mal was released. In his long, rambling, totally inspired poem “Song of Myself,” published in 1855, Walt Whitman makes several mentions of the arousing effects of body odor. One particularly famous line is “The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer,” but that’s just one modest example.

I have more to say about scent and perfume in the context of “Song of Myself,” but I’ll save that for another post. For now I just want to praise the Possets scent Jeanne DuVal Mistress of Charles Baudelaire. If you’ve dreamt of a way to balance the potent, natural bodily scent with a sweet, wearable bottled perfume, this is it. Rather than encouraging the wearer to cover up their own smell, as aggressively sweat and powdery perfumes might do, Jeanne DuVal Mistress of Charles Baudelaire pays homage to the subject of many of Baudalaire’s poems by balancing musky, earthy, and sexy in one bottle. It seems to be just the type of balance that Fabienne had in mind when she created this blend in honor of Jeanne DuVal, and it does well to mimic the natural scent that turned on this French poet again and again.

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When I first met up with Tom and Jennie this fall, they were preparing to launch the Yule Retour. They told me it was all of the scents Fabienne had ever released around this time of year. I pictured a festive shelf decorated with pine branches and scarlet ribbon, lined with 20 to 30 transparent bottles of perfume magic. What modest anticipations I had for this Yule Retour!

Instead, the retour includes 180 unique and imaginatively seasonal scents. Tom invited me back over to the Possets atelier in order to explore the Yule Retour collection myself—all 180 bottles of it.

Do not get me wrong—I love to sniff things. I don’t just stop and smell the roses, I also stop and smell the tree bark, the spice cabinet, the puzzle box, or anything that might intrigue me. But as much as I love to smell things, the task of giving 180 scents the attention that they deserved seemed daunting. Nevertheless, I worked my way through the shelves of Possets Perfumes and experienced everything from the sweetest vanillas to the most pungent smoky undertones. After much deliberation, I managed to choose what might be my three favorite scents from the Possets Yule Retour of 2017. Here are the results.

Liquid Tinsel

If I place a drop of Liquid Tinsel onto my wrist, close my eyes, and sniff, one image immediately comes to mind. It’s a single fir tree, in the midst of its brethren trees but slightly set apart. Its branches are covered in soft, glittery snow, and the moon beams hit it like a spotlight. It’s a beautiful, peaceful sight, but it also looks a little tasty, like maybe the snow is actually sugar covering some minty fir branches…

But wait! That’s just the sugary peppermint note in the Liquid Tinsel perfume that gives me just the slightest carving for a candy cane. The peppermint mixes well with the sentimental Holiday fir smell. It’s the right balance of nostalgia, sweetness, and a little earthy sass from that snowy fir tree.

Lipstick on the Egg Nog Carton

You’ll find all sorts of food references in the Yule Retour. I was pleasantly surprised going through bottles like Mincemeat Pie and Meat Candy. But the one kitchen-related scent that I was particularly fond of was Lipstick on the Egg Nog Carton.

Eggnog is another one of those things that’s notoriously associated with the Holidays. I love a glass of eggnog—especially when you put a little rum in it—but would I want to wear it as my scent? I wasn’t so sure. However, this Possets Perfume found a way to my heart and my skin. The scent of eggnog is in there, and there’s not doubt about it. But that spicy, nutmeg-y scent blends well with a collection of feminine floral scents. Would the lipstick-wearing intruder be wearing such a collection of florals? Absolutely, and probably with a fur coat, too. Thus both the name and the scent paint a perfect picture of the wild and naughty refrigerator pitstop itself.

Saturn

Tinsel and eggnog? Easy Holiday associations. But Saturn? It’s possible that this scent earned its spot in the Yule season as a reference to the ancient Roman festival Saturnalia which honored the god Saturn between December 17-23. And to me this scent is what I would imagine a god wearing. It’s a little complicated, almost difficult to confront at times, but rewarding in its complexity. If you pay close attention, you’ll find a sweet and sensitive floral note, too.

I love the Saturn perfume for its unexpected nature, but also for the strange juxtaposition of a dark and mysterious planet with the warm and familiar Christmas season. If you want to take that juxtaposition further, try looking up the sounds of Saturn, as detected by the Cassini spacecraft, and listening to that after your favorite carol. It’ll give you a startle that’s just as attention-grabbing as this scent, but much less addictive than the intriguing perfume itself.

What are your favorite scents in the Yule Retour? I’d love to hear about what you’re wearing this season and what about the perfume draws you in!

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Vying for #1 status of best loved categories of perfume is resinous. These are most popular when the weather turns cold and they feel right then due to their heavy long lasting aroma.

Out of all the kinds of perfumes that “indy” perfumers do, I think that the resinous category is the most successful. I really cannot think of a big commercial perfume house which produces a more sensuous and beautiful blend than the small independent makers. Part of that success is fueled by the fact that indies will use expensive and premium ingredients whereas big commercial houses see the market as too small to go all out on great ingredients so they try to finesse the richness of scents with cheaper and more man-made things. Indy houses will also go for unusual ingredients, which is rare among large houses; so you might see turmeric or saffron added to a blend and actually be able to smell it down in there!

I also notice that the perfume itself is often thicker, darker, and stickier than anything the big houses come out with. Why? Those are the real ingredients, and not the cheap carrier alcohol. Actually, I never use alcohol as a carrier as it’s too strong and self assertive, and it burns away the top notes too quickly for my taste. I prefer the lingering idea of oil as a base on which to build my product, it makes the elements of a perfume last longer and it has no scent of its own to interfere with the blend I am making.

Please note that Possets Perfume is Vegan and Never Ever Tested On Animals. We are also proud to say that we are transitioning over from any plastic containers to all glass, better for everyone and everything from every point of view. To find out more of the good stuff we are doing, please visit our FAQS on https://possets.com.

I started my perfuming career as a natural perfumer, actually I was studying aromatherapy and had a nice little following in my area (this was before the internet). The name of the company was Possets and I sold my perfume in one store which was opened one night a month! Nevertheless, the desire was there for great quality natural perfume and I was filling a need. Fast forward many years, and I am still making and selling 100% Natural perfume,and there is still a need.

I find it more difficult to come up with a great natural blend for several natural reasons! First, the quality of a batch of essential oils can vary wildly from one year to another. Rose oil is a real “crap shoot” with the same vendor and origin being divine one year and meh the next. I think this is either due to growing conditions, political unrest, adulteration of a bad year’s essential oil by second rate “extender” essential oils, the vendor changes hands and the new owners don’t take as much care as the original owners did, labor shortages (especially for essential oils which are very labor intense like enflourage), and diseases of the plants which produce the oils.

Another reason why it’s hard to produce a great natural perfume is that the consumer demands certain scents and some of them cannot really be mimicked in natural ingredients. I have never smelled a successful “modern hard musk” natural for instance. They just don’t come that aggressive; by nature, naturals are softer and more emollient. To try to make a natural into a modern is like making a sow’s ear out of a silk purse.

There is a smaller number of notes from which to draw. With man mades, the sky is the limit. With naturals, you have a very finite number of elements you can add to the perfume. Several hundred elements might seem like a wonderful great field on which to play, but when you are used to fine tuning with thousands of accords, you feel like you are in a straight jacket.

Well, with all those caveats, why do I still make 100% Naturals? They are the BEST when it comes to the classic blends. You can’t beat a natural chypre, there is just something magic and perfect about a perfume like The Observatory, it’s the difference between lovingly polished old wood and perfect reproduction Pergo.

100% Naturals are a challenge which often makes me consider a combination which I would have never ever tried. I got some red cedar essential oil which made me start daydreaming about “dancing partners” for it. A great essential can be a wild springboard for creativity.

Ofttimes, you will get something in essential oil, etc., which you will never ever find among the man made accords. I got something called muhuhu and fell in love. What does it smell like? It is the exact scent of a glossy paged hard bound comic book I had when I was a child. It was only printed in black and white and I just loved to smell the pages, they were so exotic. Maybe there was muhuhu oil used in the inks, or the processing of the paper but that smell has stayed with me as a comforting and pleasant scent and now I can use it in my work. No man made maker in their right mind is going to use that in their work, and I can only find it in the naturals.

Please note that Possets Perfume is Vegan and Never Ever Tested On Animals. We are also proud to say that we are transitioning over from any plastic containers to all glass, better for everyone and everything from every point of view. To find out more of the good stuff we are doing, please visit our FAQS on https://possets.com.

Great fun burning Eastern incense. Here are some things you will need to do just that. One is sort of surprising!

Fabienne Christenson has visited Dubai and the perfume market in Dubai. She has collected bakhoor, burned it, had long conversations with citizens of the United Arab Emirates about it, and has a few interesting asides. This blog will probably amuse you highly. Also, the series The Elements of Scent will continue as well. In the meantime, take a look at the main Possets site where there is plenty of Eastern (Oriental) inspired perfume as well as those of the West. Http://www.possets.com

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Now that you know how to get the charcoal started, it’s time to put a bit of incense on the fire and see what happens. In this video I will show you the proper way to burn frankincense without letting it get acrid from exposure to too high heat. Burning bakhoor will also be explored and I will show you my favorite kind of bakhoor, too.

Fabienne Christenson has visited Dubai and the perfume market in Dubai. She has collected bakhoor, burned it, had long conversations with citiznes of the United Arab Emirates about it, and has a few interesting asides. This blog will probably amuse you highly. Also, the series The Elements of Scent will continue as well. In the meantime, take a look at the main Possets site where there is plenty of Eastern (Oriental) inspired perfume as well as those of the West. Http://www.possets.com

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Burning bakoor is an art. You have to have the right equipment and know a couple of tricks to do it right. Once you try this, however, you will experience the real idea of Eastern perfumery, the oldest form of scenting there is. No education of a perfumer is complete without burning the real thing and learning to appreciate the smooth, animalic, smokey, sexy scent of good bakoor. Watch this first video and learn how to get started!

Fabienne Christenson has visited Dubai and the perfume market in Dubai. She has collected bakhoor, burned it, had long conversations with citiznes of the United Arab Emirates about it, and has a few interesting asides. This blog will probably amuse you highly. Also, the series The Elements of Scent will continue as well. In the meantime, take a look at the main Possets site where there is plenty of Eastern (Oriental) inspired perfume as well as those of the West. Http://www.possets.com